SAS crack team kill 30 Taliban in night-time desert firefight

The soldiers were sent in after a Taliban attack on a fort in Helmand province manned by Afghan government forces

British special forces troops killed around 30 Afghan Taliban fighters in a night-time desert battle.

The crack team of SAS soldiers were sent in after a Taliban attack on a fort manned by Afghan government forces.

A US pilotless drone aircraft spotted the attackers and fired missiles at their convoy of trucks, blowing up two.

The survivors fled into the desert and the SAS were quickly flown in to hunt them down. They set up an ambush and after the rebel fighters opened fire, a battle raged through the night.

One SAS man survived a “quick-draw” shoot-out when he stumbled across a Taliban fighter. He pulled his gun and shot the rebel dead as a bullet from an AK47 hit him in the chest. His body armour stopped it and saved his life.

The battle last Wednesday in Helmand province was one of the most successful by special forces in recent years. And it came as 80 troops from the 4th Battalion, The Rifles were also sent into Sangin province to take on insurgents.

Daily Mirror

A military insider said of the SAS mission: “This shows how special forces can operate quickly against a ruthless enemy. The Taliban have been trying to move back into parts of Helmand province to try and flex their muscles before the troop withdrawal. And this shows why some British and US special forces may remain in Afghanistan after regular troops have gone home.”

The insurgents moved into Helmand from neighbouring Nimruz. As they fled, the SAS men were sent ahead to cut off their escape. When the Taliban were trapped, they were given the chance to surrender but opened fire in the dark.

The SAS, using night vision equipment, engaged the rebels with assault rifles and at one stage the fighting was so close both sides were just several feet apart and the Brits barely had time to reload.

The Taliban dead included an unnamed senior commander.

Meanwhile, it emerged that the Rifles’ operation in Sangin helped Afghan government forces to kill or arrest a number of Taliban and seize arms.

The eight-day secret operation came three years after our forces pulled out of the province. Between 2006 and 2010, 106 British troops were killed in Sangin.